Lotta words, not a lot said

~Poly pocket pov~

This lady sure is resilient…

"So, who are you and why should I stop this one from ripping you to shreds?" holding Alina under my right arm like a small child as she growled at the armored and injured woman sitting on the ground in front of us.

Blowing her disheveled blonde hair from her face, she took a deep breath and spoke "first I surrendered as soon as I regained control of myself, that feral girl you're holding heard me and continued to beat me into the wall-"

"HAD POLY NOT STOPPED ME YOU'D BE DEAD BIT-"clamping my hand over the overzealous dragon I stared at the blonde.

"Do continue" my eyes held thinly veiled murder in them "but try to refrain from insulting my companions, yes?" Lin hung limply after hearing me defend her and I could've sworn I felt a tail swishing. Cute lil lizard.

"… Fine then. My name is Carcette. I am the keeper of the vigil here in Skyrim." Raising my eyebrows with curiosity, after all she was barely in the game, but her position is not one to be looked down on. Stendarr is bound to have more power than most considering his followers actively hunt Daedra throughout the province and do so in small two man cells. Each is powerful in their own right, and this is the big boss lady, eh?

"The man in the mask appeared at one of our bases. I happened to be there checking in on the disturbances we'd noticed as suspected Daedric activity. He must of used some magic or potion to turn himself invisible as none of us saw him before he was suddenly in the war room as we discussed how to suppress the dangers of Skyrim. We all assumed we were under attack and acted as such. A burst of blue light blinded me right as I was about to strike him down. I don't really know what happened for what could have been minutes, hours, or even days, but I do know about a day ago, my conscience began fighting back against what had taken control of me. Allowing me moments where I knew what was going on around me and minimal control of my body." staring off into the distance Carcette seemed to be having flashbacks like no other as she told us how she's been mind controlled.

"Let me get this straight, you and an entire base of Vigilants were mind controlled in a flash of blue light?" plopping an angry Lin on the ground I used a bit of magical energy to flex and make a chair. Lin growled like a territorial pup as she glared at the keeper.

Bopping the very angry lady on her head I motioned for Carcette to continue as I pulled my companion onto my lap so she wouldn't cause further problems... yep no other reason.

"I believe so. We have defenses in place to resist common Daedric compulsions so Vampiric charm, and the like are nullified by our horns of Stendarr. My own armor offers even more resistances than our normal vigilants." Taking off her outer plating to show the enchanted glyphs glowing with power inside.

After removing her amor, patches of blood could be seen as she started to process of healing her wounds over her undertunic and pants. Wait a minute… is it just me or… HOW THE FUCK IS HER ARMOR INTACT?! Self healing enchants? Maybe.... worth trying on my end, how have I not tried it? Maybe on both weapons and armor...

Lin blasted her with what more or less equated to a magicka bomb and she just has cuts and bruises… oi oi oi. No fucking way but just to make sure…

"Keeper Carcette, were you holding back your mind controlled self during our fights with you?" don't you say yes you holy motherfu-

A sly grin broke her visage, "Indeed. I was able to control myself for brief moments during our encounter. One cannot control a keeper that easily." He did though… you still did everything he asked just not to a 100% of your capabilities wipe that self-satisfied look off your face.

Glancing at my missing hand she took out a blue potion with a gold stopper from who knows where. Chugging it all in one fell swoop she gestured to me clearly asking for handless wrist.

"Stendarr aid me in healing this protector of the righteous." A golden light overtook her and my hand as in real time I watched my hand be built from the bones out.

Scratching the back of my head I felt conflicted. On one, newly grown hand she had just saved me a lot of time and effort. On the already attached one, we slaughtered her followers like chickens.

"While I appreciate the help, what do I owe you? We did kill your whole unit after all." As I spoke her eyes trailed to the bodies being loo-, inspected my anna and the others.

"You did what you had to, I find no fault with you all. The one to blame escaped with whatever artefact he was hunting." Rising to her feet Carcette made her way to a shovel leaning near the dragon wall.

Picking it up she began digging soft murmurs could be heard from her as her amulet pulsed with soft golden energies.

Staring at my new hand for a second I glanced around the dead corpses, with a gentle nudge I had Alina move from my lap and pointed to the others.

Understanding my gesture Lin didn't fight me and went to talk to the other girls leaving me to do whatever I needed.

Walking over to the keepers side I stared as she hit the floor, the stone floor, with a rusty iron shovel.

Each swing chipped away a section sure, but she had well over 30 graves to dig for her fallen.

Despite how gruelling her task seemed, the keeper kept reciting her prayers, silent tears dripped from her eyes and hit the ground below her.

The costs of battle this far had yet to really impact me. None of the characters I know died, really only my enemies had passed. So the feelings Carcette was going through, was not something I personally could help with.

I owe her a little bit I suppose.

Activating Dragonicka, I knelt on the ground and slapped my palms to the ground. The earth split in accordance with how many vigilants we had seen on our way down.

While I know that they are borderline assholes to everyone in their order, they are also one of the only lines of defense for this entire world.

They hunt the monsters that go bump in the night so normal people can enjoy their daily lives. They are the bastion against daedric entities and malicious plots everywhere.

I can do this much.

Each grave has a mound of dirt beside it, and a horn of Stendarr looking over it.

Carcette froze mid swing as the grave she was digging opened up in front of her. Turning she saw me kneeling with my hand clasped in what I hope, was recognizable as a prayer for the deceased.

"I don't know your traditions keeper, but I figured that the men and women who died here would enjoy having their god watch over their corpses." Making my way slowly to my feet I turned and started walking towards the secret exit of the burrow.

"Hope it's not to disrespectful of me to do so. I'll leave the last rites to you keeper. If you need help one day, send a courier and I'll come to your aid." Throwing a half hearted wave over my shoulder I walked out of the god forsaken burrow, my lil group rushing to follow.

The Keeper said nothing but a small smile made it's way to her lips as she watched us leave. The action went unnoticed by our group though as she began carrying each of the men and women to their final resting place.

"Are we done?!? Town?! A bath????"

"Yes, Lin" chuckling at the lizard we left the burrow.

Whiterun here we come.